Ole Miss Offense No Match for Temple’s Tough Defense

It was no mystery how Temple planned to defeat Mississippi. Knowing it and solving it were two different things for Ole Miss, which set a record for ineptitude on offense.

A matchup zone, the trademark of John Chaney-coached teams, befuddled Mississippi as the ninth-seeded Owls scored a 62-40 victory in the Midwest Regional Friday night.

“I’ve played against it before. I know what to do with it,” Mississippi Coach Rob Evans said. “But my players don’t.”

Temple’s defense forced 18 turnovers. On the few times the eighth-seeded Rebels penetrated the zone, they missed easy layups. Ole Miss was only 16 for 44 from the field, and three for 10 from the foul line.

The Owls, who start no seniors, took away the inside and forced Ole Miss outside, where the Rebels missed 11 of 16 three-point attempts.

Temple (20-10) held the Rebels (20-9) to the lowest point total ever in the Midwest Regional. Loyola of Louisiana lost to Oklahoma State, 59-42, in 1958.

It was the Rebels’ lowest scoring total this season, and the fewest points allowed by Temple.

Ole Miss, champion of the western division of the Southeastern Conference, was playing in the tournament for the first time since 1981 and only the second time in school history.

Tulsa 81, Boston University 52--The 12th-seeded Terriers (25-5), who’d won 20 of their last 21 games, shot 32.8% and were outrebounded, 52-29, in making a fourth consecutive first-round exit in the NCAA tournament.

The fifth-seeded Golden Hurricane (24-9) led, 40-19, at halftime and quickly built the advantage to 50-23. Shea Seals scored 17 points and became Tulsa’s all-time leading scorer.

Clemson 68, Miami, Ohio 56--The fourth-seeded Tigers held the 13th-seeded Redskins to their lowest point-total of the season. Miami (21-9) also scored only 56 in a one-point victory over Western Michigan in February.

Greg Buckner scored 22 points for Clemson (22-9), which had lost five of its previous seven games.

Minnesota 78, Southwest Texas State 46--The top-seeded Gophers scored 23 of the game’s first 28 points and went on to rout the the sixteenth-seeded Bobcats of the Southland Conference.

The Gophers’ advantage in quickness, experience and height took an immediate toll on Southwest Texas State (16-13), which fell behind 13-0 and went without a basket for the first 5:05.

Minnesota (28-3), Big Ten champion for the first time since 1982 and a No. 1 regional seed for the first time ever, led 46-17, at halftime.